Sourav Ganguly :

A Case Study in
Leadership
 Twelve Most important
Achievements Of Sourav
Ganguly As a Captain Of The
Indian Cricket Team
1. When he took over the captaincy after the
match-fixing expose in 2000, he quickly
proved to be a tough, intuitive and
uncompromising leader. It was a very
tough time both for the Indian cricket and
Sourav taking over as captain.. Sourav was
appointed as captain when Sachin
Tendulkar, shocked everyone by stepping
down from his captaincy after India’s
disastrous tour Down Under in 1999. As
vice captain to Tendulkar, Sourav was the
most obvious choice. But he went on to win
the series against South Africa 3-2. Not just
that, the BCCI imposed a ban on the former
 captain Mohammed Azharuddin and all-
rounder Ajay Jadeja, Then the stalwarts in
the team.
2. “The Lagaan Comes Back Home” was
the headlines of a national daily when
Sourav led the team to victory in the Nat
west trophy in 2002.Chasing a target of
326 seemed impossible but was achieved
by ‘Team India’ in an unprecedented
fashion ,and who can forget the shirt
waving exercise in the balcony of Lords:
The Mecca Of Cricket. This Win Further
resolved his ability as a leader.
3. Beating Pakistan in tests in Pakistan in
2004.This was undisputedly one of the
most glorifying moments in his captaincy.
4.Again, beating Pakistan in Pakistan in ODI’S
in 2004. This is a feat which was not
achieved by any of his predecessors before
him.
5. Leading the team to victory at the historic
test match at the Eden Gardens against
the mighty Australians to halt Steve
Waugh’s “Final Frontier” after being
made to follow on .The world saw the
emergence of VERY VERY SPECIAL
LAXMAN to complete the tally of the
‘Famous Five’. Not just that , In that
match itself, for the first time in the history
of Indian Cricket ,an Indian Bowler in the
form of Harbhajan Shingh took a hattrick
in a test match.
6. The Historic series against Australia ended
in Chennai with another win against
Australia . The series ended in India’s
Favour with a scoreline of 2-1.This marked
the emergence of DADAGIRI.
7. Promotion of young guns in the team was
another aspect of Dada’s captaincy. The
current Indian team has many players who
 were brought into the team by ‘DADA’.
Players like Yuvraj, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Irfan,
Sehwag and Zaheer were some his key
instruments in team building ‘TEAM
INDIA’.
8. He, till date is the most successful Indian
Captain with 21 test wins as a captain and
with a success rate of 42%. A feat
unparalleled by any other Indian Captain.
9. He led Team India to the Final of the world
Cup in 2003 after a gap of 20 years.
Although, the team lost, people could see
an emergence of a force which can stand
up to the mighty Australians. But, If the
team had won the match on the 23rd of
March 2003, Sourav would have remained
the undisputed Champion of Indian Cricket.
10. During the 2003 World Cup, The Indian
Team had an enviable track record of 8
 successive wins which is quite
extraordinary.
11. His natural ability as a leader comes to
light, when we notice that his ability to
handle seniors and greats like Sachin,
Dravid, Laxman, and Kumble without any
problems. Leadership comes naturally to
him.
12. But unlike his predecessors his most
important trait as a leader was that he was
Impartial, Non-parochial and always
pushed his players to perform better.

TEN MOST COMMON TRAITS

OF A SUCCESSFUL
MANAGER

1) An Eye For Talent- It should be one of the

most valuable aspects of a manager. To
 recruit the best person for the job. This is
also vital for every organization in the
business sense as well. Having the right
person at the right time at the right place
can make all the difference. In Sourav’s case
it was all the same because he always
promoted the best guy for the position in the
team and not someone based on his religion,
caste or state he belongs to….

2) Competency – People would always follow

someone who is as competent as them or if
not, more than them. But it does not mean
that one has to be an expert in every field of
his/her organization ,but needs to
 demonstrate ample competence levels .Also
in the Indian Team , ‘Dada’ was always
referred to as a bowler with a ‘golden arm’.
If he could not do anything with the bat he
always came up with a vital breakthrough for
the team with the ball. This showcases his
competence as an all-rounder.

3) Honesty –In today’s modern competitive

world, this has become a major trait of a
successful manager in view of scandals. Also,
managers need to display their honesty to
their counterparts/peers in order to win their
appreciation. When Sourav was the captain
he was always honest in his appraisals for his
players. He preferred Harbhajan over Kumble
as he was a better performer in ODI’s.
However, against Pakistan he preferred
Kumble due to his better track record against
them .We come to know this from the fact
 that, the only match in the 2003 World Cup
played by Kumble was against Pakistan in
the super sixes

4) Nurturing Talent – This trait is vital for

every manager and organization. Managers
need to groom their people and help them
develop skills vital for the success of their
organization. When Sourav was the captain,
his persistence on Dravid to hone up his
skills as a wicketkeeper helped him not just
to play an extra batsman/bowler but also
won many a matches for India, until the
advent of ‘MSD’.
5) Meritocracy- This is perhaps the most
important trait of a successful manager.
Managers need to promote people based on
merit and only on merit. Sourav too always
did the same .

6) Forward Looking – A manager with this

trait in his/her attitude can always lead
his/her organization or people from a difficult
situation to a comfortable position. Sourav in
2003, having lost the world Cup to Australia,
came back strongly to defeat Pakistan in
Pakistan in both ODI’s and Tests in 2004.
7) Awe Inspiring – People always love to be
inspired and follow an inspirational leader
who can take them to greater heights.
Sourav too was inspirational either with his
performance or with his words on and off the
field.

8) Insistence for Continued Performance –

This is one quality which sets apart managers
from others .The objective here is to perform
day in and day out. For example in Laxman’s
case, he came into the one day squad after
his historic performance at the Eden Gardens
in 2001 but could not cement his place in the
team because of his performance.
9) Emotional Intelligence – In Today’s
modern competitive world, this trait has
become the deciding factor between a good
manager and an excellent manager. An
excellent manager will always respond to
people in a way they want him/her to. Sourav
always did the same and the prime example
of this is his waving of the shirt violently from
the balcony of Lords in 2002 to Andrew
Flintoff.

10) Challenge Organizational protocol –

Every leader must have the zeal to challenge
existing organizational protocol for the
good .This not only strengthens his
capabilities as a leader but also as a
commoner. Furthermore, Sourav to a very
large extent handpicked his team defying
SET selection procedures often leading to
discontent in the board.

SIX IMPORTANT LEADERSHIP

TRAITS OF SOURAV
GANGULY
1) Indifference To Criticism – Gangly
always took decisions which he felt right
without caring for the critics’ sake. It is
perhaps this indifference to criticism that
led to his omission from the team.

2) No personal Insecurity – Sourav felt that

every young player should play two years
of domestic cricket before being selected
for international assignments. He also said
that every newcomer should be given at
 least five games to prove himself. Perhaps,
he being at a receiving end of a raw deal
that threatened to ruin his international
cricket career enabled Sourav to
understand the insecurities of other
newcomers in the team better than his
predecessors.
3) Visionary- His vision was to win the world
cup for India and indeed came very very
close to win one after a gap on 20 years.

4) Preference for Match Winners - He

relinquished himself, to make the space for
the opening slot to accommodate Virender
Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. Ganguly will
most be remembered though for having
forged a winning unit from a bunch of
talented boys.
5) Emotional Intelligence – He as a captain
always believed in replying on the face and
responding in an appropriate fashion.
Again, the prime example of this is his
waving of the shirt violently from the
balcony of Lords in 2002 to Andrew Flintoff.

6) Nurturing Talent- He always wanted his

players to develop skills for their and the
teams’ betterment. For example, He along
with Sachin helped Harbhajan and Zaheer
hone up their batting skills which in the
future has helped India save many
matches from the Jaws of Defeat. Similarly,
When Sourav was the captain, his
persistence on Dravid hone up his skills as
a wicketkeeper helped him not just to play
 an extra batsman/bowler but also won
many a matches for India, until the advent
of ‘MSD’.

Can Sourav Ganguly teach

Managers about leading
from the Front? What can
the leaders in businesses
learn from his successes and
failures?
There are primarily 3 basic aspects which
we learn from Sourav from his Illustrious
Carrier which are stated briefly in the
following :-
1) He was prone to experimentation. He
promoted himself to the opening slot and
along with Sachin form the best ODI’s
opening partnership in the history of the
game . This showcases his ability to
shoulder responsibility. An opener’s job is
a specialist’s job and he took over the
responsibility to display his Flamboyant
Panache as a southpaw.
2) He always provided vital breakthroughs
with his golden arm. He became the first
player in the history of the game to
receive 5 consecutive Man of the Match
awards in one-dayers ,in a series, in the
Sahara 1997 Cup, which s a world record
till date . He also won the Man of the
Series.

3) Again, due to the lack of form he dropped

himself from the opening slot to
 accommodate Sehwag who was a more
attacking player than him, showcases
that he was an honest leader and is
ready to make corrections for betterment
of the team.

Future Leaders and entrepreneurs can learn a

lot from Sourav .His unprecedented Knack for
experimentation, Indifference to criticism, an
eye for talent, his Vision and not to mention his
extraordinary EQ can make every leader stand
up and notice. If someone can accommodate
few of the above mentioned qualities as we see
in Sourav, they can make a whole world of
difference to their respective organizations.
“Every leader succeeds and
fails depending on the
situation he or she is working
under !!”

We do agree with the statement because of the

fact that success can always be measured in
any field by performance. Also, since success is
dependent on the performance it also
incorporates the performance of the other
individuals in the group/team, simply because
Business is also about teamwork. Therefore ,
the acceptance of the leader by his/her team,
the internal and external forces which
directly/indirectly affect the business/task, the
performance of his colleagues and peers are
responsible for the success of the leader.

Do all leaders have a “Shelf

Life ”?
Every leader brings with him/her certain ideas,
concepts and theories which are pertinent to
the current working scenario. However , the
only constant is change. Therefore, what is
contemporary now might be obsolete in
future .Therefore every leader must change
his/her outlook based on the business
requirements.
However, those leaders who don’t incorporate
these changes fade away only to be replaced
by a more contemporary one .

All these facts remind us of the fact that all

leaders do have a shelf life.

Three (3) important quotes

of Sourav Ganguly relevant
to Today’s Management
Profession
 I. “ Now or Never ”- On having
reached the finals of the 2003 World
Cup reflects his Visionary attitude.
II. “ I have to make this boy play for
India ” – On seeing Dhoni for the first
time in a domestic match. This reflects
his Eye for talent.
III. “ I never try to make right
Decision, but I make a decision
and make work right.”- On winning
a test match. This reflects his attitude
of Indifference to criticism.